Pack Your Bags: Burano, Italy

While it may be a place

that can completely be "seen" in a day or two,

Venice is an absolute must 

for planning a trip to Italy.

Maybe you don't have to go your first trip...

but promise me, 

at some point in your life,

you'll make it here.

It's like nothing you've ever seen.

After visiting Venice a handful of times,

I was pretty confident that I had seen all there was to see.

Until my sister pointed me in the direction 

of the island of Burano

during a trip there in 2007.

Now Murano is the really famous island 

where all the gorgeous glass is made,

but Burano is the other island,

that's located a bit further out,

where the (somewhat less famous) Venetian lace has it's home.

While it was fairly unknown a handful of years ago,

it has grown increasingly popular

over the past five to ten years.

Each time we go,

the boat has more and more people on it

and the island's main canal 

has more people walking down 

taking in the gorgeous colors of the island.

Even with it becoming "discovered,"
it's still absolutely worth seeing for yourself.

So why spend your time in Venice 
heading out to Burano?

Well for starters,

it's gorgeous.

Each house is painted a different color

that creates an effect that is incredibly charming.

It's also tiny 

so it's a perfect way 

to fill an afternoon 

with walking, picture taking & eating.

{Which are the best parts of traveling, right?}

If it's sunny, you can find warm nooks by the water

and take a little snooze in the sunshine.

Cassie from Hi Sugarplum! asked if I had ever eaten 

at a restaurant that she had seen featured on Anthony Bourdain

located on the (tiny) main canal

with a green & white striped awning.

Umm, nope.

But I was determined not to miss it this time.

We only found one restaurant with a green & white awning.

We walked in to find a really basic restaurant

that was stuffed with Italians.

{This my friends, is a good sign in a tourist destination.}

It was lasagna day

and Tyler made the genius choice

to order the plate of the day.

I only got one tiny corner bite,

but it was incredible...

 Completely worth a Ryan Air flight back 

just for plate of my own.

{My soup was pretty tasty, too... but the lasagna won.}

I still have no idea what the name of the restaurant is

but you should be able to find it
if you're on the main drag...

UPDATE: Apparently, it wasn't the same place from the show...
that place is called "Da Romano."

So now you have two recommendations for dining in Burano.

One from me, one from Anthony Bourdain. 
You can pick his over mine, it won't hurt my feelings.

_________________

From there,

enjoy the quiet stroll around the island

and the opportunity to take pictures

and simply enjoy la dolce vita.

Here are few things to know

for your trip to Burano:

Take the Vaparetto #12

from Fondamente Nove...

located on the northern part of Venice,

about a 15 minute walk from the big touristy areas.

This is the quickest boat (about 45 minutes)

and will stop at both Murano & Burano.

If you aren't planning on traveling by boat

anywhere else that day,

you can buy single tickets (€7 each way)

and save some money from purchasing thh 24 hour pass.

The boats run approxiamately every 30 minutes

at 20 minutes & 50 minutes past the hour.

*all images original to Aspiring Kennedy